Morris Goldsmith

University of Haifa | haifa · Department of Psychology

Going beyond the origins of cognitive biases, which have been the focus of continued research, the notion of metacognitive myopia refers to the failure to monitor, control, and correct for biased inferences at the metacognitive level. Judgments often follow the given information uncritically, even when it is easy to find out or explicitly explained...

General Audience Summary In judicial settings, the questioning of witnesses about what they remember is a major source of information, used first in the investigative stages and then later in the courtroom. Witness memory, however, is highly susceptible to bias and contamination from external sources of (mis-)information. Building on the well-known...

The role of retrieval fluency—the experienced ease with which information comes to mind—in cognition has been studied from various perspectives. Memory research has treated retrieval fluency primarily as a metacognitive cue for evaluating the source and accuracy of retrieved content, whereas social-cognition research has focused on its role as an i...

This article advances a framework that casts object recognition as a process of discrimination between alternative object identities, in which top-down and bottom-up processes interact-iteratively when necessary-with attention to distinguishing features playing a critical role. In two experiments, observers discriminated between different types of...

. This study explored the dynamics of attentional navigation between two hierarchically structured objects. Three experiments examined a Hierarchical Attentional Navigation (HAN) hypothesis, by which attentional navigation between two visual stimuli is constrained to follow the path linking the two stimuli in a hierarchical object-based representat...

This study advances the hypothesis that, in the course of object recognition, attention is directed to distinguishing features: visual information that is diagnostic of object identity in a specific context. In five experiments, observers performed an object categorization task involving drawings of fish (Experiments 1–4) and photographs of natural...

In two experiments, we examined whether relative retrieval fluency (the relative ease or difficulty of answering questions from memory) would be translated, via metacognitive monitoring and control processes, into an overt effect on the controlled behavior-that is, the decision whether to answer a question or abstain. Before answering a target set...

Metacognitive control of memory reporting Two eyewitnesses are asked to pick the perpetrator of a crime out of a police lineup. One witness is told to keep in mind that the actual perpetrator may not be present in the lineup, and that it is perfectly acceptable to respond “don't know.” The other witness is simply told to indicate whether one of the...

Background and objectives: Obsessive-compulsive (OC) patients typically display reduced metacognitive confidence, but findings regarding the scope of this phenomenon and factors that mediate it have been inconsistent. This study aimed to further the understanding of reduced metacognitive confidence in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) by explori...

The role of top-down processes in general, and of attention in particular, in object recognition is a controversial issue. The study of object recognition has focused mainly on bottom-up processes that analyze the visual input (Peissig & Tarr. 2007). Findings that object recognition is remarkably fast (Thorpe, Fize & Marlot, 1996), have been taken...

Research on object recognition has focused mainly on bottom-up processes that analyze the visual input; the potential role of top-down processes has been relatively neglected. We examined the hypothesis that object recognition is an iterative process in which bottom-up and top-down processes interact to discriminate between alternative object ident...

The role of central-cue discriminability in modulating object-based effects was examined using Egly, Driver, and Rafal's (1994) "double-rectangle" spatial cueing paradigm. Based on the attentional focusing hypothesis (Goldsmith & Yeari, 2003), we hypothesized that highly discriminable central-arrow cues would be processed with attention spread acro...

Research on object recognition has focused mainly on bottom-up processes that analyze the visual input; the potential role of top-down processes has been relatively neglected. We propose a framework that views object recognition as discrimination between probable alternatives – an iterative process in which bottom-up and top-down processes interact...

Research on the strategic regulation of memory accuracy has focused primarily on monitoring and control processes used to edit out incorrect information after it is retrieved (back-end control). Recent studies, however, suggest that rememberers also enhance accuracy by preventing the retrieval of incorrect information in the first place (front-end...

Despite immense technological advances, learners still prefer studying text from printed hardcopy rather than from computer screens. Subjective and objective differences between on-screen and on-paper learning were examined in terms of a set of cognitive and metacognitive components, comprising a Metacognitive Learning Regulation Profile (MLRP) for...

Is the focusing of visual attention object-based, space-based, both, or neither? Attentional focusing latencies in hierarchically structured compound-letter objects were examined, orthogonally manipulating global size (larger vs. smaller) and organizational complexity (two-level structure vs. three-level structure). In a dynamic focusing task, part...

In the previous chapter, Phil Higham follows up on previous work showing how methods based on type-2 signal detection theory (SDT) can be used to study the strategic regulation of memory performance, and compares some of the advantages and disadvantages of this approach to Koriat and Goldsmith’s (1996b) Quantity-Accuracy Profile (QAP) methodology....

Is object-based attention mandatory or under strategic control? In an adapted spatial cuing paradigm, participants focused initially on a central arrow cue that was part of a perceptual group (Experiment 1) or a uniformly connected object (Experiment 2), encompassing one of the potential target locations. The cue always pointed to an opposite, diff...

Age differences in memory accuracy were examined within a conceptual framework specifying the mediating role of metacognitive monitoring and control processes (Koriat & Goldsmith, 1996b). Replicating previous results, older adults showed poorer memory quantity and accuracy performance compared to young adults. Even when memory quantity performance...

When answering questions from memory, respondents strategically control the precision or coarseness of their answers. This grain control process is guided by 2 countervailing aims: to be informative and to be correct. Previously, M. Goldsmith, A. Koriat, and A. Weinberg Eliezer (2002) proposed a satisfying model in which respondents provide the mos...

Most people, including our survey participants, believe that they learn less efficiently when reading from a computer screen than when reading from paper. We investigated the validity of this belief within a metacognitive framework for self-regulated learning. In three experiments, participants studied expository texts presented on paper or on scre...

The central thesis of this chapter is that particularly in real-life situations, but also to some extent in the laboratory, rememberers strategically regulate the quality and amount of information that they report from memory in accordance with two generally competing goals: Accuracy and informativeness. The work described in this chapter is predic...

While the role of impaired cognition in accounting for functional outcome in schizophrenia is generally established by now, the overlap is far from complete. Moreover, little is known about the potential mechanisms that bridge between cognition and functional outcome. The aim of this article is to aid in closing this gap by presenting a novel, more...

Forgetting refers to the failure to remember specific facts or events that took place in the past. In contrast, memory distortion includes many ways in which what a person does remember can deviate from what actually happened.

As time passes, people often remember the gist of an event though they cannot remember its details. Can rememberers exploit this difference by strategically regulating the “grain size” of their answers over time, to avoid reporting wrong information? A metacognitive model of the control of grain size in memory reporting was examined in two experime...

This study was designed to explore the neuropsychological basis of competence to consent to treatment in first-episode schizophrenia by evaluating its differential and joint links with cognitive versus metacognitive performance. Twenty-one first-episode patients were assessed with the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) an...

The aim of the present study was to explore the neuropsychological basis of insight in first-episode schizophrenia, by evaluating its differential and joint links with cognitive vs. metacognitive performance. Thirty first-episode patients were assessed with the Scale of Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD) and a metacognitive version of the Wiscon...

In R. Egly, J. Driver, and R. D. Rafal's (1994) influential double-rectangle spatial-cuing paradigm, exogenous cues consistently induce object-based attention, whereas endogenous cues generally induce space-based attention. This difference suggests an interdependency between mode of orienting (endogenous vs exogenous) and mode of selection (object...

Smith et al. show that monkeys and dolphins can respond adaptively under conditions of uncertainty, suggesting that they monitor subjective uncertainty and control their behavior accordingly. Drawing on our own work with humans on the strategic regulation of memory reporting, we argue that, so far, the distinction between monitoring and control has...

To increase their report accuracy, rememberers may either withhold information that they feel unsure about or provide relatively coarse information that is unlikely to be wrong. In previous work (A. Koriat & M. Goldsmith, 1996c), the authors delineated the metacognitive monitoring and control processes underlying the decision to volunteer or withho...

In previous work with adults (A. Koriat & M. Goldsmith, 1994, 1996c), it was shown that people can enhance the accuracy of their testimony substantially when they (a) are effective in monitoring the correctness of their answers, (b) are free to control their reporting accordingly (i.e., to decide which pieces of information to volunteer and which t...

There has been unprecedented interest in recent years in questions pertaining to accuracy and distortion in memory. This interest, catalyzed in part by real-life problems, marks a significant departure from the quantity-oriented approach that has characterized much of traditional memory research. We outline a correspondence metaphor of memory under...

In most real-life memory situations, as opposed to traditional lab settings, people have a great deal of freedom to control their memory reporting in accordance with personal and situational goals. For instance, they may choose to report only information they feel sure about, or they may choose to answer at a level of generality where they are unli...

What is the unit of selection for feature integration in visual search: location or perceptual object? Feature integration theory (A. Treisman, 1988) asserts that it is location. Two alternative models are put forward and tested in a series of 4 experiments using a special conjunctive search task In this task, each stimulus item consists of 2 overl...

In response to Cohen, we point out that many of the assessment difficulties raised by the correspondence metaphor stem from the assessment of memory in meaningful, real-life contexts rather than from the assessment of memory accuracy per se; these difficulties are equally troublesome for the assessment of memory quantity in such contexts. More...

Green's (1998) criticism that connectionist models are devoid of theoretical substance rests on a simplistic view of the nature of connectionist models and a failure to acknowledge the division of labor between the model and the modeller in the enterprise of connectionist modelling. The "theoretical terms" of connectionist theory are not to be foun...

Glenberg provides a new and exciting view that is especially useful for capturing some functional aspects of memory. However, memory and its functions are too multifarious to be handled by any one conceptualization. We suggest that Glenberg's proposal be restricted to its own “focus of convenience.” In addition, its value will ultimately depen...

When people are allowed freedom to volunteer or withhold information, they can enhance the accuracy of their memory reports substantially relative to forced-report performance. A theoretical framework addressing the strategic regulation of memory reporting is put forward that delineates the mediating role of metamemorial monitoring and control proc...

When people are allowed freedom to volunteer or withhold information, they can enhance the accuracy of their memory reports substantially relative to forced-report performance. A theoretical framework addressing the strategic regulation of memory reporting is put forward that delineates the mediating role of metamemorial monitoring and control proc...

The study of memory is witnessing a spirited clash between proponents of traditional laboratory research and those advocating a more naturalistic approach to the study of “real-life” or “everyday” memory. The debate has generally centered on the “what” (content), “where” (context), and “how” (methods) of memory research. In this target article, we...

Our response to the commentators covers four general issues: (1) How useful is our proposed conceptualization of the real-life/laboratory controversy in terms of the contrast between the correspondence and storehouse metaphors? (2) What is the relationship between these two metaphors? (3) What are the unique implications of the correspondence metap...

Memon & Stevenage (1996) call for a more critical evaluation of the effectiveness of the Cognitive Interview for questioning witnesses. In this commentary, we address some general issues regarding the assessment of memory performance that emerge from their analysis. Our comments focus on (a) the need for a careful choice of memory measures and (b)...

A distinction is drawn between the quantity-oriented approach to memory that has dominated traditional laboratory research, and the accuracy-oriented approach that is emerging in the study of everyday memory. This distinction is shown to underlie some troubling confusions in the interpretation of empirical findings. In particular, the recall-recogn...

This chapter presents the theoretical concepts of structure and process for a better understanding of the perceptual organization/cognitive system. A particularly stubborn and enduring issue in the psychology of perception is the way in which perception might be organized—the primacy of wholes versus parts. Two basic positions on this topic can be...

This volume describes the nature and results of a Home Vehicle Use Study undertaken to determine the effectiveness of various information feedback systems fostering more efficient use of family vehicles. The study was part of a broad investigation of voluntary fuel consumption that constituted the National Energy Efficient Driving System (NEEDS) pr...

This volume describes a series of studies carried out to determine the most effective approaches to the introduction of fuel-efficient driving through driver education courses. The work described in this volume was part of a broad investigation of voluntary fuel consumption that constituted the National Energy Efficient Driving System (NEEDS) proje...